Page 80 of Trusting Her Bear

“Don’t push your luck, lion,” Heath says, but a smirk forms on his lips.

“Hey, what about me? You didn’t ask for anyone to accept me,” Micah glares.

“You’ve already been accepted,” I say. “Bash and Ryker would kill anyone who didn’t. Plus, the dragons are fond of you, too.”

“Very true,” he muses.

I shake my head. I tune out the conversation and work side by side with a man I never thought would step foot in this town. I think about the last kill. The day they were late, and I took a claw to the eye. In that second, I thought maybe I deserved the loss of my vision. I remember the war cry Heath let out when he saw it. His beast burst out of his body. He very rarely shifts, afraid of the consequences. I had only seen it a handful of times before that day, and I understood his fear of being out of control.

He finished the man. He continued to attack minutes after he was already dead. I wonder if he thought it scared me, and that’s why I left.

Once this is over, I need to have a long talk with him. We both have been hiding for too long.

The project is taking shape. I will have to take it in the house piece by piece. I stand back, thinking it’s not perfect, but it will work.

“Your phone is going off,” Micah says.

I throw down my tools and walk to the porch. I left it there, unconcerned about missing a call since Steph is here with me. As I lift it, a message flashes.

“Do you want to play a game?”

“Fucker,” I growl.

“It’s him?” Heath asks.

“Yes, he wants to know if I want to play a game,” I snarl, replying to him and saying, “Yeah, motherfucker, let’s play.” I push send and wait.

“Shit,” Micah says. “Have you ever replied before?”

“No.”

They leave their spots and walk over. The phone is silent.

“It would be odd if it were that easy,” Heath says. “He’s not going to tell you where he is.”

“He wants to make me suffer. He wants me without my mate. He knows I will do anything to protect her.” I keep my focus on the phone. “Call Bash. If I can keep the asshole talking on the same phone, he can find his location,” I say quickly to Micah.

“On it,” he replies, stepping away after glancing at the number being used.

“It would be great if it did work,” Heath says. “We’ve been going through the list. It’s too extensive. We have been wading through any family members, but they are scattered. We only have a few completed.”

“Who would hold a grudge for this damn long?” Logan says.

“Someone who isn’t in their right mind,” I mumble. My phone buzzes. “Let's play hide and seek.” The guys read over my shoulder.

“Let me guess, you are the one hiding,”

“Well, I know where you are…I always know.” Who the fuck is this? If they have been tracking me, they hid well. I haven’t smelled any unusual scent.

“Bash is tracking now. He says it’s a burner phone, so it might take some time,” Micah informs us.

“It will. By then, the phone will be thrown away,” I guess. “But we should have a general area,” I state, typing.

“Why don’t we cut the shit? You come to me.”

“What’s the fun in that?”

“Aren’t you eager to have your revenge?”

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